MGM Resorts International on Monday said it wants to destroy its Harmon building — an unfinished condo-and-hotel tower riddled with construction engineering problems.

If it occurs, the demolition would mark a significant new tack for the once fast-growing gambling mecca, which for decades saw the destruction of old casinos to make way for costly new ones. This demolition, observers believe, might be the first large-scale one of a Strip building that was never in use.

Designed by famed architect Norman Foster, the Harmon is part of the Las Vegas Strip’s $9 billion CityCenter project, which is co-owned by MGM and Dubai World. CityCenter opened as the country’s most expensive private building project at the end of 2009, and includes multiple condo and hotel towers as well as a casino and a mall.

In a letter to Clark County Director of Development Services Ron Lynn, CityCenter’s senior vice president of facility improvements, William Ham, wrote: “CityCenter has decided to abate the potential for structural collapse in case of a code-level earthquake … CityCenter will demolish the Harmon Building.” Read More »